Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Position Increased by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,428 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 984 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,104 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 50,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,367,000 after buying an additional 2,366 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 43,640 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $9,000,000 after buying an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 21,074 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delap Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $671,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.84.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.1 %

AMAT traded up $4.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $206.47. 5,208,974 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,394,189. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a market cap of $170.95 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.75. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.